It's a good question. Depending on whom you ask, we're either a few years away from this or 20. As of right now, we have no plans to develop our own TTS tech. With that said, it's something we keep a very close eye on.
agreed about the marketing. i follow a lot of indie blogs so i had heard about the new record, but very little considering it's death cab. they tend to come up in the mainstream a decent amount as well, but i haven't seen anything.
re: walla's departure, i think they'll be ok without him. gibbard is unique and the leader but to me, the saving grace of this band will always be jason mcgerr. he's one of the great drummers and creative forces in this genre today.